Research in Biopolitics – serie

The study of biology and politics examines the linkage between the life sciences (broadly defined) and politics. Among biological areas from which these linkages are drawn include: human ethology; socio-biology; ethology; genetics; evolutionary theory; neurosciences; biotechnology; and, bioethics amongst others. These knowledge arenas are used to illuminate policy choices (biopolicy), political behaviour, leadership behaviour, international politics, and political philosophy, amongst others. Topics covered by this volume include human nature in the theory and practice of modern international relations; decision-making under uncertainty; political culture and AIDS policy; and, emerging political leadership in young adults.

The study of biology and politics examines the linkage between the life sciences (broadly defined) and politics. Among biological areas from which these linkages are drawn include: human ethology; socio-biology; ethology; genetics; evolutionary theory; neurosciences; biotechnology; and, bioethics, amongst others. These knowledge arenas are used to illuminate policy choices (biopolicy), political behaviour, leadership behaviour, international politics, and political philosophy, amongst others.

The principal idea of this study is to investigate to what extent it is possible to explain the emergence of ethnic conflicts and the variation in the degree of ethnic conflicts by our assumed predisposition to ethnic nepotism, not to find explanations for all ethnic conflicts.

"Evolutionary Approaches in the Behavioral Sciences" examines perhaps the single most important post-World War II development in the Behavioral Sciences - the emergence of a group of practitioners who advocate 'a more biologically oriented' approach to their discipline's subject matter. This contention directly challenges the basic tenets underlying the long-dominant standard social science model. Advocates of this model believe that human behavior is not meaningfully influenced by our evolutionary background, but is instead learned. Consequently, the possibility that our behavior is genetically influenced is often ignored.The advocates of a 'more biologically oriented' approach are attempting, in effect, an intellectual revolution. Part I of this ground breaking volume examines, discipline by discipline, the history of the evolutionary thrust, leading figures and key literature, the degree of acceptance (or rejection) within each discipline, and the likely future prospects. Part II discusses the biobehavioral approach on a geographic basis, with experts assessing the status of evolutionary behavioral science across a number of countries and regions. The contributing authors are social scientists who have personally played an important role in the developments that they discuss.

This volume examines cutting edge research in the study of biology and politics. Following an introduction from the editors it is divided into two main sections. The first part of the book explores the linkage between evolution, genetics and politics with initial chapters on abandoned baby legislation, a model of action and norms, and the biopolitics of primates. The next four chapters have a special focus on the use of twin studies to study political phenomena and provide a biological critique of twin studies, phenotypic measurement issues and twin studies, a survey of twin studies research, and an example of using twin studies to explore politically relevant behaviour. The second section looks at the relationship of brain science to our understanding of politics. With respect to the applicability of brain science it features chapters summarizing what literature exists as well as how to use neuroimaging techniques to study political behaviour.

"Biology can inform public policy in a number of ways. This volume explores the linkage of the life sciences with policy (what the book refers to as biopolicy). It features two points of departure: the implications of the neurosciences for public policy; and the implications of evolutionary theory for policy-making. The first part of the book provides an introduction to the subject of biopolicy as well as the relevance of the brain sciences and evolutionary theory for this subject. The second part considers several case studies of how these points of departure inform our knowledge of policy. Among case studies provided here are the implications for distribution of wealth, the roots of foreign policy, violent behavior, policy decision-making, and the like. In the final analysis, this book provides examples of how the life sciences can inform public policy choices. Research in Biopolitics is the only book series that focuses specifically on the relationship between biology and politics, and provides contemporary research for practitioners, including anthropologists, sociologists, economists, biopolitical researchers, as well as students of law and political science.

This volume describes (a) the present academic and institutional status of Biopolitics and (b) the wide range of research areas that have emerged within the field. The Introduction puts into perspective the major differences and similarities between Biopolitics and more traditional approaches to political science in terms of basic concepts, scope, research methodology, and the resulting implications for public policy. The next two chapters focus on the institutions and organizations that have significantly influenced the structure and direction of the "movement." Chapter 4 describes how and why evolutionary theory has had an increasingly influential impact on political science. Chapters 5 through 9 are "case studies" of how biological perspectives have been productively used in several of the discipline's established "fields." Chapter 10 is a measured critical analysis of the enterprise and Chapter 11 looks at where biopolitics as a field might be moving.

This book examines the development of biopolitics as an academic perspective within political science. It reviews the work of the leading proponents of this perspective and presents a comprehensive view of biopolitics as a framework to structure political inquiry. The book's chapters present a range of analysis, critique and recommendations for the current study of biopolitics. Coverage includes; the implications of biopolitics for political theory and the need to re-evaluate basic assumptions of the prevailing political science paradigm; an analysis of the methodological concerns of adopting a more biology-based approach to political science; the current state of knowledge of the genetic and neurological bases of mass and elite behavior; and biopolicy issues and the proper role of the life sciences in informing our understanding of them. The concluding chapter restates the case for a paradigm shift toward an interactive model, arguing that, rather than lead to biological determinism as denounced by some, this inclusive paradigm allows us to counteract deterministic protestations more effectively than by continuing to ignore or minimize biological influences.